


i say ribbit, you hear kiss kiss

by ArcadeGhostAdventurer



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fanart, Fanart With A Fic, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, M/M, fairytale curses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22045864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcadeGhostAdventurer/pseuds/ArcadeGhostAdventurer
Summary: Tony had been stranded and desperate. He wanted that known. It wasn’t like he went around kissing frogs on the regular. Nope.Little did he know, this would become a long running joke between him and his husband for years to come.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 16
Kudos: 87
Collections: POTS (18+) Stony Stocking 2019





	i say ribbit, you hear kiss kiss

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fluffypanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffypanda/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [Fluffypanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffypanda/pseuds/Fluffypanda) in the [stony_stocking_2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/stony_stocking_2019) collection. 



> Oh man... This is so corny I’m surprised you can’t pop it. 
> 
> Pandaaaa!!! This is for your "fairytale curses" tag, it's just a tiny little bb art and a tiny little bb fic to go along with it. I hope you like this sweet bb gift!! <3 <3
> 
> No betas, we die like the illiterate! (And by die I mean if you see typos you can tell me in the comments lol)

Tony was stranded and desperate. He wanted that known. It wasn’t like he went around kissing frogs on the regular. Nope. 

Little did he know, this would become a long running joke between him and his husband for years to come.

He had hoped for a unicorn. Delicate and shy, white coat gleaming under light streaming through the trees. Or maybe, maybe a centaur! Strong and tall, looming over him. A wolf with thick fur, trotting right beside him, tipping his head up to Tony. 

Those dreams were long gone now though. Because right now, Tony was in the thick of the woods, he had no idea where he was exactly and the glinting light was starting to seem less and less friendly every second.

Everything looked the same. And the worst thing was, there hasn’t been one single animal since Tony entered the woods.

He tried not to be dejected but… Well.

He kicked a little toadstool mushroom that had come loose from the ground. He wouldn’t be able to become a king like this. But then again, what changeling would want to be his consort. He wasn’t supposed to be king yet anyway. Not yet. He was young and dumb and liked his cogs and gears a little too much; and the worst was, he was hot-headed and didn’t understand strategy. At all. 

Even Howard had found Maria on his first day. Tony could still remember how Howard had been when his mother was alive. Now though, both of them were gone and Tony was all alone in the Avenger Forest with not a single soul in sight.

All the kings and queens of Starkia went into the forest to find their life long partner. The true changeling would find their way to the king or queen-to-be. Changelings were magic. The forest was magic. No matter how deep it got, the sunlight was always visible. Colors were vibrant. Flowers always bloomed. It was made ions ago, to tie the humans and the magical creatures. To fall in love.

It was unheard of a royal returning alone. Or… Well, not returning, more like. Because he was to not return until he found his consort. 

And after two days, he was still all by himself.

Depressed, he kept on walking on the little trail of mushrooms. Of course no changeling wanted to be his consort. Why would anyone leave their life in this beautiful forest, comfortable and protected, and turn into a human to deal with councils, grain reports and threat of war? 

And for Tony too! The magic of the place probably knew how forgetful he was, how he would get caught up in his own inventions and forget about ruling. Forget about his consort too, probably. 

Maybe it was better he didn’t go back.

The mushrooms got bigger and bigger as he walked. The foliage was so thick, if this was a regular forest there would be no way Tony would be able to see where he was going. He had no idea how there was even a path this deep.

The forest wants you to be here, a hopeful voice in his head said, it wants you to keep walking on.

Tony didn’t want to be hopeful though. He… Kind of wanted to curl up and cry at this point. 

“Ribbit!”

Tony, panicked, looked around, trying to find where the noise was coming from. From whom.

There, on one of the larger toadstools, sat a frog. But it didn’t look like any other frog, it was… It was a really cute frog, it-

They were a changeling. Tony’s heart hopped into his throat. 

“H-hey! Are you- Were you looking for me?”

“Ribi-ribbit!”

“I’m scared to kiss you,” Tony blurted. 

“Ribbit!”

Well… Tony had to kiss the frog if he wanted to be able to talk. But then again, that would tie the changeling frog to him. Maybe he could run away. Or he could stay here, never kiss the frog. And… Whatever happened would happen.

“RIBBIT!!” screamed the frog, just when Tony was about to hang his head. 

Before he could lose whatever was left of his courage, Tony bent over and kissed the frog on top of his head.

Suddenly there was a poof of mist, felt almost like a mix of condensation and smoke without a scent. Tony waved his arms to make it dissipate. 

In the middle of the glistening fog, was a… Young boy, about the age of Tony. And he was the prettiest boy Tony had ever seen. His thin frame, combined with his light skin and hair, made him look like an elf. He wobbled on the toadstool he was sitting on. Tony reached to steady him, holding his hand. Blue eyes met his.

“I-” the changeling cleaned his throat, “I’m sorry for being late. I felt you coming this way and I hopped as quick as I could but- Uh- I’m a little small and I get tired a lot, so-”

“It’s okay!” Tony squeaked, “I could carry you if you wanted to become a frog again.” This was a dream, so it probably didn’t matter if he said stupid things. Right? Were toadstools toxic? He couldn’t remember if he ever touched them.

“I would- I would like to stay human, actually. So that- Uh- We could talk. And you could tell me about your kingdom.”

Oh Gods! Tony panicked. This was not a dream. This was not a dream and he was going to be king and here was his consort and he had just offered to carry him.

“I don’t know how to be a king!” 

The changeling blushed, “I don’t really know it either. We have no kings. But… We can figure it out together, right?” He hopped down from the toadstool, “I’m Steve.” His hand was still in Tony’s.

“I’m Tony.”

\---

The white gold crown sat heavily on Steve’s head. It was identical to Tony’s yellow gold one. They both had rubies adorning the folds and twists of the precious metals.

As his Color of the Consort, Steve had picked blue. Some sizeable sapphires had appeared on his crown the day before the coronation. It had been a small thing apparently, Color of the Consort, more formality than any real meaning to it. 

But Tony had gotten him these. It was before Steve had drilled into his head that sentimental gifts held more value to him then expensive ones but this had been Tony’s sentimental back when they were young and naive. Much later Steve had learned that Tony had put them there himself. Welding and all...

And after ten years, he still felt compelled to rub his hands over them whenever he took his crown off at the end of the day.

“Come to bed,” Tony’s muffled sound came from somewhere between the pillows, “stop ogling your crown,” he turned around, opened his arms to the sides, “ogle me instead.”

“Alright,” Steve walked up to the bed. He sat down beside him, inhaling his metal and herb scent and bent down to press a lingering kiss to his husband’s lips, “I’ll ogle you instead.”


End file.
